This is a great little product at a reasonable price. At first I was hesitant. But I'm glad I ordered it because the very first 8mm film I transferred was one with my grandparents (now deceased) and my parents. OMG they were so young. And I have several more films to transfer. It's a little rough when the film has splices though. If you're not paying attention it will just jam and you end up not recording anything. But that's ok because now I just sit and watch the show.

I just started using the digitizer but I am having the same problems I read about before purchasing. One that I didn't see before was the 8mm to super 8 mm switch. It doesn't always work if pushed all the way to the selection. Sometimes I must find a spot between 8 and super 8 to keep the film moving. Also, as pointed out by others, the film doesn't move through smoothly. It sometimes needs attention. It is wise to constantly monitor the film.

It takes a while to get accustomed to the best outcome. Once you do the result is very nice.

I want to commend you with the promptness that a replacement and updated unit (type S) was send, for the defective and probably obsolete unit (type A) which I received originally. Even with a manual with much less misspellings. The unit is working satisfactorily. Thanks.

The instructions need to be more specific, especially about when to know the address card is full. Other than that happy with my purchase. Converting 70 year old family movies.

There are a whole lot of 8mm and super 8 home movies that are sitting on a shelf or in a basement, holding the memories of the past, unwatched, unseen for years and may be lost completely if they aren’t preserved.Most people no longer have projectors to play the films. Those that do have to find expensive replacement bulbs for them. Going outside to digitize them is a different sort of problem: it’s darned expensive. I’ve found costs as high as $15-18 for a single roll of 50 feet, depending on where you go. If you have a couple dozen reels or several larger reels (most people who have film do), there’s another much less expensive solution.The film to video recorder offers anyone the ability to digitize their own 8mm and super 8 home movie film cost effectively, if you are willing to invest a bit of time and effort.This machine is nearly identical to several models sold on the market. They all use the same internal workings, the same digital camera sensor, and the same plastic casing (in slightly different color variations). In fact, the only difference I found was the coloring and the lack of felt pads at the feed-in and feed-out of the film handling tray. I tested the units side-by-side.IN THE BOX: The transfer unit, one pickup reel, two film reel adaptors, power supply.USING THE SYSTEM: It’s easy. Thread the film through the machine using the visual instructions printed on the machine. Adjust for the film type – 8mm or Super 8. Determine the need for and make any adjustments to framing, sharpness, brightness. Start recording.Each 50-foot film length will take about 30 minutes, as it scans the film frame by frame and saves the combined images into a highly compressed MP4 file on the SD Secure Digital card. You can watch it on the small digital view on the machine or hook it up through a video cable to a TV.Keep in mind that the frames of 8mm and Super 8 movie film are very small. It was often shot under less than ideal lighting conditions – good quality film required a lot of light. So even under the best conditions, when everything was done right, capturing detail is challenging.As with most technology, understanding the limits and having realistic expectations is important.PERFORMANCE:While the unit is lightweight and compact, the resulting video is quite good. The Pro unit (I recommend it over the base unit) creates files that run at 18 frames per second, close to the original film speed of 16 frames per second for 8mm and right on target for 18 frames per second for Super 8 film.Digitizers of this type rely on the film sprockets (the tiny holes in the film) to move the film forward in an even, controlled fashion. So part of the unit’s performance is dependent on the condition of your film.Also, if your film is moldy or mildewy, decaying, buckled or otherwise damaged, the machine won’t be able to digitize the film well (i.e. the film will continually jam). If there are old or sloppy splices, the same is true: the film will jam. That’s not the machine’s fault, it’s your film’s fault.The resulting file is a highly compressed 1280 x 720 resolution MP4. Black and white film fares badly with a lot of visual artifacting. Well-exposed color film can look quite good, with closeups having more detail and sharpness.Adjustments to the sharpness can be hit or miss, depending on the film. It often creates additional artifacting. I run 95% of my film at the machine defaults. Focus seems good for the size of the image on the film.There are a number of recommendations I can personally give to squeeze out your best results.RECOMMENDATIONS IN USE:1) RUN YOUR FILM IN REWIND MODE FIRST to the pickup reel to clean the film and discover loose or bad splices and spots. Repair the splices. Then use the same function to rewind it onto the original reel. Then digitize the film.2) UPLOAD YOUR RESULTING MOVIE FILE TO YOUR YOUTUBE ACCOUNT. This single act improves your entire result. Not only can you share your videos easily, but the second compression that YouTube applies to the video actually makes the resulting movie look better and smoother in most cases (although you’ll lose a tad of sharpness in the process). YouTube will also let you edit the movie a bit, add some music for the background, and superimpose a watermark onto the video, creating a more engaging watching experience. It also serves as an archive for your precious memories. You can even restrict access to specific people, if you like, by making it private or unpublished.3) INVEST IN AN INEXPENSIVE VIDEO EDITING SOFTWARE PACKAGE. There are a number of packages priced under $99 (some at half that cost) that allow you to edit, alter and then burn the resulting files to DVDR for playing through a DVD player. But beware that they will often explode the file size once the video is loaded in. However, you can easily edit films together, remove parts you don’t want to see, adjust visuals, etc.4) BUY A SHEET OF SELF-STICK FELT FROM A CRAFT STORE. The felt at the beginning and the end of the carriage wears down over time. You can cut small pieces and replace the worn areas. This felt protects the film from scratching against the edge of plastic and removes some of the loose dust, dirt etc from the bottom side of the film as it enters the carriage. It can also be used under the metal tray guide if you find that the pickup reel pull is causing the film to “jump” when being scanned.EVALUATION: This is an excellent and cost-efficient way to archive and preserve all of your home movie films. If you or people you know have more than a handful of old 8mm and super 8 home movies, this machine will digitize your films and give you the ability to create files that play on your computer, videos that play on your DVD player, or both. This is an excellent and cost-efficient way to archive and preserve all of your home movie films. And this has a price tag less than other models. A great deal!

This product does just what it sys it will. The quality of the digital film was better than I expected.Just need to make sure you keep the image framed correctly.The film splices have to be perfect in order for it fo feed correctly.I am loving this unit and having fun getting my old film digitized.

I purchased item twice thinking second one would be new and in working condition.First scanner film pull reel would not move as the film would feed, or rewind. Film counter was already at 25 I wasn't able to scan one.Second scanner arrived quickly to replace first purchase. Upon loading 7-inch reel arm would not stay in upright position. Film count was at 12, scratches was visible on front of casing these are not new scanners that are being sold as new for $300.00.